Archaeologists begin dig on buried stone circle TEN times bigger than Stonehenge

[Beorn]

Archaeologists have begun a major dig to unearth the hidden mysteries of a buried ancient stone circle site that is ten times bigger than Stonehenge.
The enormous 4,000 year old Marden Henge, in Wiltshire, is England's largest prehistoric structure stretching for 10.5 hectares, the equivalent of 10 football pitches.

English Heritage is carrying out a six-week dig hoping to reveal the secrets behind the giant henge which has baffled historians for centuries.

Most of the Neolithic henge has been destroyed over the years due to farming and erosion but minor excavations in 41 years ago estimate the site to between 2,000 and 2,400BC.

Marden Henge was once a 45ft high mound surrounded by a water filled ditch which was used for sacrificial offerings.

Although the henge no longer has its vast stone circle it has a large puzzling sunken circular feature which is almost unheard of at Neolithic sites.
A team of 15 archaeologists and historians believe the dig could show the ancient site is even more significant than both Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles.
Archaeologist Jim Leary, 34, said: 'Virtually nothing is known about this vast circle. We are starting from point zero.
'Marden Henge deserves to be understood more partly because of its size, but also due to its proximity to the more famous stone circles at Avebury and Stonehenge.

'The relationship between the latter two sites - chronology of their construction, whether it is built by the same people, how they were used, is of immense interest.
'How Marden relates to them is another layer of interest which we want to study.
'We are potentially looking at a much more intricate system of Neolithic ritual sites in this part of the world than we previously thought.
'The study of Prehistory is entering a very exciting phase with lots of fascinating research and dating techniques emerging.
'The stunning discovery of Neolithic houses at Durrington Walls near Stonehenge a few years' ago, for example, has really turned things on its head.

'We certainly hope that this excavation will bring more pieces of the puzzle to light.'

The dig is the culmination of a two year English Heritage project including aerial, topographic and geophysical surveys.
It has not been touched since an investigation in 1969 by Professor Geoffrey Wainwright which dated the henge from fragments of deer antler found in the area.
Marden Henge is situated near to the source of the River Avon, in Marden, north of Devizes, between Avebury and Stonehenge and close to ancient Silbury Hill.

The henge comprises a well-preserved bank covering 10.5 hectares and an internal ditch.
Unlike Stonehenge and Avebury or Castlerigg, in Cumbria, Marden Henge no longer has any surviving stone monuments.
All that has remained is the evidence of a huge mound similar to a smaller at the centre of the henge, which collapsed in 1806 and was completely levelled by 1817.
Most experts now believe that significant ceremonial or ritual activity occurred within the ditches.
Archaeologists aim to find remnants of the Neolithic age within the remains of the mound.

The entire site is around 15 hectares and set within surrounding fields covering 40 hectares.
The dig began on Monday this week and will continue until August.

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[Cato]

What were those oldsters up to in the days of yore? Fascinating!

[SwordoftheVistula]

Is there any renditions of what the site would have looked like historically?

They have found circular mounds surrounded by ditches in North America, wonder if there's any relation

[Treffie]

Archaeologists have discovered a second henge at Stonehenge, described as the most exciting find there in 50 years.

The circular ditch surrounding a smaller circle of deep pits about a metre (3ft) wide has been unearthed at the world-famous site in Wiltshire.

Archaeologists conducting a multi-million pound study believe timber posts were in the pits.

Project leader Professor Vince Gaffney, from the University of Birmingham, said the discovery was "exceptional".

The new "henge" - which means a circular monument dating to Neolithic and Bronze Ages - is situated about 900m (2,950ft) from the giant stones on Salisbury Plain.

Images show it has two entrances on the north-east and south-west sides and inside the circle is a burial mound on top which appeared much later, Professor Gaffney said.

"You seem to have a large-ditched feature, but it seems to be made of individual scoops rather than just a straight trench," he said.

"When we looked a bit more closely, we then realised there was a ring of pits about a metre wide going all the way around the edge.

"When you see that as an archaeologist, you just looked at it and thought, 'that's a henge monument' - it's a timber equivalent to Stonehenge.

"From the general shape, we would guess it dates backs to about the time when Stonehenge was emerging at its most complex.

"This is probably the first major ceremonial monument that has been found in the past 50 years or so.

"This is really quite interesting and exceptional, it starts to give us a different perspective of the landscape."

Data from the site is being collected as part of a virtual excavation to see what the area looked like when Stonehenge was built.

Speculation as to why the 4,500-year-old landmark was built will continue for years to come, but various experts believe it was a cemetery for 500 years, from the point of its inception.

In 2008, the first excavation in nearly half a century was carried out at the iconic site on Salisbury Plain.

This latest project is being funded by the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology, in Vienna, and the University of Birmingham, and is assisted by the National Trust and English Heritage.

Professor Gaffney said he was "certain" they would make further discoveries as 90% of the landscape around the giant stones was "terra incognita" - an unexplored region.

"The presumption was this was just an empty field - now you've got a major ceremonial monument looking at Stonehenge," he said.

Source

[Beorn]

Still very early days yet, but I wonder if the appearance of this new (older?) wooden henge could be a Neolithic British Isles attempt at constructing in alignment with the Orion's Belt, just as in the pyramids of Giza?

[Treffie]

^Whatever they find, it seems that they're only now scratching the surface. Could be one of the biggest discoveries for a generation.